Exemplary embodiments of the invention relate to a method to support a driver when driving a vehicle, wherein a surrounding environment of the vehicle is monitored, road users are detected at a crossing or intersection and indications of priority rules are emitted to the driver.
Exemplary embodiments of the invention also relate to a device to support a driver when driving a vehicle, having at least one monitoring unit to monitor a surrounding environment of the vehicle, having at least one detection unit to detect road users at a crossing or intersection and having at least one display unit to emit indications of priority rules to the driver.
US Patent document US 2008/0162027 A1 discloses a method and device enabling a vehicle to follow a traffic regulation, in particular a priority rule, at a crossing when driving in a road network. The device comprises a database to store features relating to the road network, a position detector to detect a position of the vehicle relative to the road network, and a sensor to detect an object in a surrounding environment of the vehicle. A processing system controls the vehicle in such a way that the vehicle autonomously follows a traffic regulation. Alternatively, a signal or warning is emitted to a driver of the vehicle in order to enable the drive to follow the traffic regulation. This control of the vehicle or the emission of the signal is based on the detected position of the vehicle, on data retrieved from the database and connected to at least one feature of the road network and on data with regard to at least one object detected by the sensor. Here, the vehicle that reaches the crossing first has priority.
Exemplary embodiments of the invention are directed to an improved method to support a driver when driving a vehicle and an improved device to support a driver when driving a vehicle.
In a method to support a driver when driving a vehicle, a surrounding environment of the vehicle is monitored, road users are detected at a crossing or intersection and indications of priority rules are emitted to the driver.
According to the invention, the indications are emitted to the driver overlapping the environment by means of symbols on a display or overlapping an image of the environment.
Therefore, valid priority rules can be optically depicted to the driver in a manner that is clear and simple to understand at a respective crossing or intersection and in a traffic situation there, such that the driver is supported when driving the vehicle and road safety is increased. The thus generated depiction in the form of augmented reality shows the traffic situation and the associated priority rules to the driver in a manner that is clear and easy to understand.
Parts corresponding to one another are provided with the same reference numerals in all figures.